


Hope

by makomaragi



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Best Friends, Developing Relationship, F/F, Female Friendship, Femslash, Femslash February, Femslash February 2014, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, LGBTQ Themes, Pre-Relationship, Relationship(s), Slice of Life, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 06:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18047615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makomaragi/pseuds/makomaragi
Summary: Professor Juniper and Fennel before they were professors. Originally written in 2014 for Femslash February.





	Hope

The laptop clock read six past two in the morning, but it felt much later than that in the dark room. Aurea had been pouring over paperwork for hours now, but the end was in sight. She learned years ago how to put a resume together, but actually doing it was a tediously daunting task, and boring, at that. Papers containing the letters of recommendation she had asked for were strewn all over the twin mattress she sat on, still needing to be placed somewhere for safe keeping until she built up the courage to use them. The lab work she was supposed to be completing taunted her in the form of more papers and books stacked on the desk across the room, and it slowly dawned on her that things worked out the way she was hoping, that wasn’t about to go away any time soon.

Aurea was perfectly happy with her busy work at the regional Pokemon lab, assisting the scientists on filling in tedious amounts of data, and being able to pursue her own projects from time to time. She ranked the lowest on the hierarchy, but counted herself lucky to be able to speak to as many scientists as she could while there, often convincing them to share with her details of research trips along with their finds from them.

Fennel had applied for and received an internship at a small lab just outside Striaton City, and though Fennel had explained it to Aurea fifty times, she still wasn’t sure what exactly it was she was doing there. It was all highly experimental, still in the process of applying for funding for a larger project, but Fennel was confident that eventually with her experience early on in the project she would be able to secure a job there if indeed the project took off.

It was foolish, really, to be applying for a position she was barely qualified for, if at all. A bit less than a year out of college, with only less than a year of interning hardly counted as any type of experience, much less for a job she wasn’t sure she wanted in the first place. Being denied the paid researching jobs for her lack of experience was nothing to brag about, and the one she was applying for was far more prestigious and demanding than that would be. Her father had held the title of regional professor for a few years when she was younger, and she never once considered following in his foot steps, always far more interested in field research for her various topics of interest, not that that was working out. She had never embarked on a pokemon journey proper when she had the chance, preferring instead to keep traveling alongside of her father, leaving her unsure if she could even relate to who she was supposed to be helping. It was stupid, so stupid; and truly the only instances working in her favor was that she knew the current regional professor that would be retiring in a few months from her work at the lab. She had only spoken to him a handful of times, mostly relying on one of his assistants for her assignments, but there was a stray thought that perhaps he acknowledged how hard she had worked in her time there, unpaid, at that. She was hardly the only one doing so, and hardly the only one applying for a position far above any experience she acquired there. But experience wasn’t going to pay any bills.

At first, living in an apartment in Accumula Town alongside her best friend was everything they both hoped it would be, and not much different from the dorm they shared. They used the mixture of graduation money and what little they had saved from various jobs on campus saved to pay for the initial deposits and three months rent on the small one bedroom apartment, each of them job searching in the meantime while still maintaining internships at their respective labs. Aurea’s work at the regional lab kept her far busier than Fennel ever was, though Fennel was certain most of it she was putting upon herself. Despite her own obligations, Fennel had taken a job waitressing nights at a local restaurant, making barely enough to pay the rent, but they managed to scrape by. They had a roof over their head, but that was about it. The fridge was empty more often than not, usually surviving on what leftovers Fennel brought home from work, and anything that could be considered ‘entertainment’ was out of the question.

Fennel made the mistake of asking her parents for money once, only to have them beg her to come home as they had on numerous occasions, insisting there were plenty of opportunities in Kanto just the same, and there was no reason for her to live the way they were. They had qualms with her room mate not caring to take up a job of her own to help pay for things, though Fennel insisted time and time again that it wasn’t as if Aurea sat around all day doing nothing at all; her lab work kept her as busy as a full time job, not minding in the least to be the one to support both of them until they could get their lives sorted.

Aurea was never quite sure why she hadn’t taken their offer, really. There were times when she considered contacting her father, asking to travel again, but it wasn’t the same as having a home to return to, something she never truly understood until dorming in Castelia, nor did she want to leave Fennel to deal with it all herself. He had slipped her money a few times in recent months, knowing she was too proud to ask, and seeming to understand her reasons for staying. The internship was a prestigious one to have in the first place, and it seemed foolish for her not to pursue what may come of it.

It couldn’t go on like this forever, they both told themselves. Surely their hard work would pay off, and someday they would be able to afford luxuries like a bed frame to fit the mattress on, and an internet connection that wasn’t leeched off of their neighbor.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the front door being thrust open, Fennel appearing in the bedroom shortly after, flicking the lights on.

“Did you eat yet?” she asked hurriedly, setting two stereophone containers down on the bed next to the other woman, already changing out of her work clothes in favor of her pajamas. “I made us sandwiches before I left.”

“Thanks,” Aurea set her laptop aside, opening one of the containers and looking over its contents. “Which one’s mine?”

“The one with all the crap on it’s yours,” Fennel seated herself on the bed next to her, grabbing the other container and taking a large bite of the grilled cheese sandwich, practically stuffing the entire thing down her throat. It wasn’t much, but it would get them both through until breakfast, and it was more filling than cereal.

“Once I’m done eating, I’ll go on the couch so you can have the bed to yourself. I know you had a long day….”

“I like it better when you’re here,” Fennel smiled as she picked up their containers to toss in to the trash bin on her way to the bathroom, shifting around on the bed, suddenly becoming aware of the mess of papers surrounding both of them. “Hey, these papers look important, I’ll put them by your computer so you don’t lose them. What were you doing when I got home?”

She didn’t want to give Fennel any sort of false hopes in the mere mention of what she had been up to, shrugging and helping her in gathering the papers and setting them on top of her laptop. “Lab work.”

The dark haired woman disappeared in to the bathroom, brushing her teeth and reappearing shortly after, now in the process of brushing out her ridiculous mane of hair. “I have stuff I need to catch up on, too, but I’m way too tired tonight…”

“What do you need to do? I can do it for you if-”

“No, no. I need to summarize this project we’re working on so it can be submitted for grant money. I can just do it tomorrow, it’s no big deal.” Fennel shook her head, setting the brush down on the desk, “You can keep working if you want, but I’m going to bed. Good night, Aurea.”

“Hm….no, I’ll go to bed, too. I have a lot I need to think about, anyway.” The brunette handed Fennel one of the two pillows she had been using to prop herself up, arranging the blankets on the bed before lying down.

Fennel pulled the comforter over herself and wrapped her arms tightly around the pillow, squirming around momentarily until she was comfortable. There was hardly enough room for one person on the bed, let alone two, but if Fennel wished for her to stay, she would.

Such was how Fennel usually was in the evenings; getting ready for bed as soon as she got home, only to get up at eight in the morning and do it all over again tomorrow. Aurea admired her stamina, but the guilt never went away. Fennel could easily return home to her parents, forget completely about her and leave her to deal with how she would support herself in her lab work. It wasn’t Fennel’s problem at all, really; and why she stayed remained the mystery in all of it to her. She had said in passing a few times that it wasn’t as bad as Aurea made it out to be, and her hope that it would all be better someday.

Glancing over her resting form in the dark, Aurea inched closer to her. It was still incredibly foolish of her to even consider, much less getting her hopes up, that she would be selected for a career that scientists twice her age and five times as knowledgeable, probably, were applying to get. But looking over at Fennel, the countless amounts of times she had seen her in this exhausted state, this is why she’d try. They’d be able to move somewhere much nicer, Fennel could quit a job she hated to do what she loved, but most of all, they’d be comfortable.

“I’m going to fix this, I promise,” Aurea whispered mostly to herself, nor clarifying what she had meant by it in the off chance Fennel had heard her.

“Hmm, okay,” Fennel mumbled, rolling over and wrapping an arm around her.

No, Fennel definitely hadn’t heard specifically what she said, only that she was talking. But her point remained whether Fennel comprehended it or not. Even if all she could do was try, she owed that much to her.  


End file.
